by Unknown
And getting an eyeful of Eden in a two-piece swimsuit was a definite perk.
“If we make it back inside without incident, I’ll say it was pretty damn professional on my part.” He checked to make sure his gun was within easy reaching distance. “Do you always complain this much?”
She knit her brows together. “Yes.”
Her truthful answer caught him off guard and he laughed before he could check himself. “At least you’re honest.”
She shrugged and ran a hand over her upswept hair. “Why lie? I’m probably spoiled rotten by your standards.”
He mulled her words over. “Maybe, but everyone around here is completely loyal to you. They wouldn’t feel that way if you were as difficult with them as you are with me.”
“I’m the master’s daughter.” She spoke as if those few words defined her every relationship.
He shook his head. “It’s more than that. I heard what you did for Clow. And you mediated a resolution for the Speedway Pack during their big feud. They’re willing to put their lives on the line for you.” He met her gaze. “You don’t get any more loyal than that.”
She regarded him with an icy expression. “You’re putting your life on the line for me right now, and I don’t see anything resembling loyalty in you.”
“Is that what you really think?” Anger tightened his chest. “Are you blind, or just really dense?”
Her eyes darkened. “Neither, last time I checked.”
“Well, maybe you need to check again, if you can’t see what’s staring you in the face.” Cameron felt every muscle in his body tense. He was on the verge of blurting out something that would put the word unprofessional in an entirely new context.
“The only thing staring me in the face is an arrogant ass who thinks he’s some kind of hero for taking money to kill people.” She folded her arms over her chest with the air of having had the final word.
“You want to know why I’m still here?” His cock throbbed with sudden need. “Despite the fact that you’re the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met? Because I can assure you, your ladyship, it’s not for the money.”
“Oh, do enlighten me.” She smirked at him, anger coloring her cheeks.
He opened his mouth to blurt out a confession when something stronger than speech overwhelmed him. He wrapped both of his hands around her upper arms and pulled her to him, pressing his lips against hers in a silencing kiss.
* * *
His kiss was rough, half pleasure and half punishment.
Eden sighed when he pulled away, dragging her eyelids open. Cameron stared down at her, an expression in his eyes she couldn’t decipher. Something between lust and rage, though whether at her or himself she couldn’t fathom.
He didn’t speak as he twisted his fingers into the back of her upswept hair, willing her to conform to the angle he desired. Then his lips met hers again, and she couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel.
He forced her mouth open, his tongue demanding purchase. She complied, although she couldn’t have made herself refuse if her life depended on it. His tongue swept against hers, thrusting into her mouth even as he pressed the hard length of his cock against her bare stomach.
She sucked her stomach in almost reflexively. Even though she’d never had sexual contact with a man before, her instinct to appear desirable to him kicked in on autopilot.
But she didn’t have long to think about her shape, not with his hands pushing up the top of her swimsuit. She gasped when the whirling water of the hot tub swirled against her bare breasts.
“Eden,” he whispered against her lips, cupping her breasts. The weight of them rested against his palms, and she felt her nipples harden painfully.
He circled the swollen points with his thumbs, eliciting a tortured sound from her. Had anything ever felt more euphoric than this man’s hands on her body? Something stirred low in her body, a deep throbbing, an aching need that only he could fill.
His lips worked their way down her neck. With one hand, he lifted her breast until the nipple was above the water line. The cool air against it tugged between her legs, as if an invisible current connected it to her breasts. Cameron lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth.
The feeling of his warm, wet tongue lapping at the peak of her nipple was almost more than she could bear. She could feel an orgasm rushing forth like a pack of wild horses, furious and unstoppable. If he didn’t take her and put an end to the delicious torture, she’d expire from sheer need.
His radio crackled, Clow’s voice coming through. “Cam, we got a car pulling into the driveway. Texas plates.”
Cameron released her breast and growled a curse. He reached for the radio and depressed the talk button. “Be there in a minute, Clow. Just follow procedure.”
Eden watched as he put the radio aside and covered his face with his hands. His chest heaved in a deep sigh.
“I’m… I don’t have any excuse for that.” He scrubbed his face with his hands, refusing to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He was sorry? Humiliation washed over her like an icy wave, shooting needles through her heart. She’d been about to hand him her extremely overdue virginity on a silver platter, and he was sorry?
“I won’t let it happen again, all right?” He gave her a pained glance. “I know better than to get involved with a client. It would be the worst thing I could do, especially on a tough job like this.”
She slid back through the water to the other side of the tub. Was that how he saw her… as a tough job? Maybe he’d been without a woman long enough to settle for a chubby chick with no experience in the heat of the moment.
Her devastated pride wouldn’t allow her to spend another minute with him. “You’re right.” She turned her back to him and climbed out of the tub. Suddenly it no longer mattered if he saw her body. He’d already rejected her. What did she have left to lose? “Don’t let it happen again.”
She put on her robe and headed back to the house. For once, he didn’t follow her.
* * *
Dracula’s Ball Promises To Be Gala Event
by Anastasia Levoux
Houston Vampire Press
Preparations are in full swing for this year’s annual Dracula’s Ball in Houston. It will be the Bay City’s first time to host the event in nearly a century.
“We’re expecting delegates from every vampire court and house in North America,” Gavin Charles, spokesman for the Gulf Coast Court, told the Houston Vampire Press. “Of course, security will be high for the festivities. Local citizens need not worry about any trouble resulting from this gathering.”
With only two months until Dracula Week kicks off, the planning committee is in constant motion tying up final details.
“We want this to be the most glittering Dracula’s Ball in the history of the event,” Jade Simon-D’Aria, owner of Nocturnal Nuptials and co-chair of the planning committee, told us in a phone interview. The ball will launch with performances from several well known vampire musical acts and conclude with the coronation of the new empress of the Gulf Coast Court, Eden Lockhart.
Chapter 6
“Eden, let’s go.”
She looked up to find Cameron standing in the doorway between their respective rooms. “Just a minute, they’re almost finished with me.”
Veronica, half of Houston’s infamous identical vampire duo, wrinkled her forehead as she worked a shine serum into Eden’s hair. “You cannot rush beauty, Monsieur Zane.”
Malice, from her perch on a stool at Eden’s side, nodded as she brushed deep red gloss onto Eden’s lips.
Cameron scanned the floor with his eyes. “Did you try on your entire closet?” He gestured to the piles of discarded clothing littering the carpet. She was sure it looked as if a gothic laundromat had blown up in there.
Eden gave him what she hoped was a withering stare. “Did you remember to put on clean underwear?”
He shot her a grin. “I don’t wear any.”
Good? She snorted to herself. He looked like a walking, talking treat. If she hadn’t been still smarting from his rejection, she might have even told him so.
But she couldn’t, not after she’d let him make a total fool of her in the hot tub a few nights ago. Even worse than her wounded pride and sense of total humiliation was the fact that he seemed determined to act as if nothing had happened.
As if kissing her, holding her, and touching her naked body had meant less than nothing to him.
“Finished!” Veronica put down her comb and clapped. Malice moved out of the way and joined the applause.
Eden rose to her feet. “Thank you, girls.”
Veronica turned to Cameron. “Is she not a work of art, Monsieur Zane?”
Eden crossed her arms over her chest. The form-fitting black dress with its lace trim revealed more than she normally allowed herself to show, and Cameron’s intense scrutiny made her wildly embarrassed. She could only imagine how she’d pale in comparison to the other female guests at Katya’s birthday party that night.
Finally, the weight of his stare forced her to look up and meet the heat in his eyes.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” He leaned against the wall, still watching her.
She hustled Malice and Veronica out, closing the door behind them with relief.
“You’ve got those two on your payroll?” He chuckled.
“I inherited them.” Eden sighed, rubbing her hand against her forehead. “I’m going to go change before we head out to Crimson Hungers. This dress is all wrong.”
His hand shot out to stop her. “Are you crazy? You look incredible!”
She rolled her eyes. “Incredibly fat, maybe.”
“Come on, Eden.” His hand was warm on her bare arm. “You’re not one of those, are you?”
“One of what?”
“One of those women who has a killer body but thinks she’s too fat because she’s not built like some bony supermodel.”
She felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I don’t think anyone is going to mistake me for a bony supermodel in this lifetime.”
“Why would you want to be one?” The vehemence in his voice surprised her.
“Are you kidding me?” She tried to keep tears from sneaking into her eyes, but any discussion of her weight always touched the sorest spot in her heart. “Guys love those bony chicks.”
“Fourteen-year-old guys who want to impress their friends, maybe.” His gaze burned into hers. “You have everything that makes a woman’s body what it’s supposed to be. You just have more of it.”
To hell with it. How could she fight a compliment like that? “Fine, I’ll wear this dress.”
He smiled down at her, his eyes sparkling. “Good.”
* * *
The crowd of bodies on the dance floor at Crimson Hungers made Cameron uncomfortable, but not for the normal reasons.
There were just too damn many people there.
Rex, the owner of the club, had top notch security. A pair of werewolves the size of professional wrestlers scanned everyone with wands. Everyone had their IDs checked against the guest list. No one got in without a hand stamp.
Rex had even made sure that Cameron had a card key to a private VIP room in case Eden needed it. But he knew she’d resent being dragged off to watch the party from a distance, so he’d settled down at a corner table with her.
Cameron stole a surreptitious glance at her as she stirred the ice cubes in her ginger ale with a swizzle stick. She looked about as happy as your average funeral attendee.
“Having fun?” He put his hand on her wrist.
She started at his touch, splashing ginger ale on the table. “Yeah, it’s a good party.”
“You don’t look very happy.” That was the understatement of the year.
He followed her gaze to the dance floor. “Just tired, I guess.”
All right, he didn’t need a sign from heaven. The woman wanted to dance.
Cameron checked the perimeter. The Speedway Pack was there in full force, covering all the doors and exits. Clow was watching the front entrance. The radio would alert him to anything about to happen.
What could possibly go wrong taking one turn on the dance floor?
“Come on.” He rose to his feet and offered her his hand.
“Where?” She stood and took the proffered hand.
“We’re going to dance.” He began to work his way through the crowd, past the tables and onto the dance floor.
Gnarls Barkley’s The Boogie Monster pounded from the speakers. Cameron pulled Eden against him until her body was flush with his.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him feel the weight of her breasts against him.
He went hard instantly.
She was a natural dancer and found the rhythm easily, slowly rotating her hips against his in a way that made him wonder what she’d do on top of him, underneath him, and in a few other positions.
He’d promised himself he wouldn’t touch her again. Getting involved with her would weaken his focus. Getting emotionally attached to a client was the equivalent of serving them both up to the bad guys on a silver plate.
But when her eyelids fluttered shut and a soft sigh drifted forth from her lips, his promises were as good as dead. He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath.
He held her face in his hands and brought his mouth down on hers before she could protest, kissing her with all the ferocity of desire denied.
She made a sound deep in her throat and ground her pelvis against him. A few more minutes of that and he would come right there on the dance floor.
“Let’s go.” He pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “VIP room.” He took her hand and pulled her along behind him while fumbling in his pocket for the card key. He finally extracted it from his pocket with an unsteady hand.
“Dammit!” He squinted down at the key.
“What is it?”
“I can’t find the room number on here.”
She looked down at the card. “It’s on the other side. The one without a magnetic strip.”
Feeling like a teenage boy desperate to sneak out with a girl, he checked the front of the card, and sure enough… Room V7.
He managed to locate the room without any further delays, nearly tearing the door off the hinges in his haste to get her alone.
The door slammed behind them and he had her in his arms, backing her toward the red velvet covered sofa against the wall. “Alone at last,” he breathed. She nodded, reaching for him. He offered no resistance.
He claimed her mouth, desperate with hunger to taste her, to consume her, to immolate them both on the altar of passion. She didn’t stop him when his hands skimmed the backs of her bare thighs until he met the stretchy lace fabric of her panties.
“Have you ever had a man go down on you?” His breath came in gasps.
She shot him a wary look. Just as he’d expected, she wasn’t very experienced. That was all about to change.
“Get on the couch. No arguments.” He steered her down onto the couch and knelt in front of her, parting her legs. He placed one over each shoulder, giving himself the kind of view that wet dreams were made of.
Her thighs were full and smooth, the skin as soft as rose petals. And between them… sweet lord. A swath of black lace and satin covered the small triangle where heaven waited.
She drew in a sharp breath when he skimmed his hands up her inner thighs. He didn’t stop until he had her dress pushed up.
Silently he moved closer, pressing his lips against her mound through the thin fabric of her panties. He dragged his lips lower, flicking his tongue against the hot center of her, inhaling the perfume of her desire.
He knew that hers would be the sweetest pussy he’d ever tasted.
Mewling kitten sounds broke forth from her th
roat, and she ran the palms of her hands over his stubble-covered head. Experienced or not, it was plain to see her raw instincts were leading her on. He tightened his grip on her thighs and ran the tip of his tongue down her hot cleft, leaving a trail of moisture on her panties.
His cock ached with need, and when she’d had the chance to come at least twice, he would bury it inside her and thrust them both into oblivion. He would bet his entire gun collection that she was a virgin, and he’d never had that particular experience with a woman before. But he would do right by her, pleasuring her senseless before claiming his own reward.
A scream tore through the room. At first he thought it was Eden, but one look at her told him that she was as surprised as he was. And then the first bullet punched its way through the steel door. He barely had time to pull Eden to the floor before more shots rang out, a deafening rain of bullets coming from seemingly every direction.
He threw himself on top of her without thinking twice. She didn’t scream, didn’t move -- she simply held herself motionless beneath him, an expression of sheer terror on her face.
The shooting stopped as suddenly as it had begun, leaving Cameron’s ears ringing. A bullet had lodged itself in the door.
It was silver.
Someone knew what they were doing.
A crackle zapped through the air, and a shower of sparks came from somewhere near the ceiling, giving Cameron just long enough to pull his gun before the building was plunged into darkness.
Chapter 7
“Get the fucking car over here now,” Cameron barked into the radio. Trent, the werewolf on the other end, responded in the affirmative.
He pulled Eden behind him, trying to keep his composure. Not an easy thing to do with bodies being wheeled out in bags.
“Who would’ve done such a thing?” Eden sobbed. He couldn’t look at her, not with tears running down her face and terror in her eyes. If he let himself get caught up in her emotions, he’d lose it, and someone had to hold it together with the kind of shit they’d endured for the last half hour.