Daedalus pulled the stake from his chest, and in one swift move, jammed it through the Were’s head.
A spatter of blood landed on Sugar’s cheek. She watched in horror as he dropped the corpse, then staggered to his coffin. Sam and Robert appeared at his side to assist him.
She pushed between them and grasped his hand. “Please don’t die.” Her voice sounded hoarse.
He tried to touch her face, but his hand fell back to his chest. “Tell Eric to call my office.”
His eyes closed, and his body became limp once more.
She stumbled back a step to look at Sam and Robert. They only offered her a shrug.
She found the portable phone by the coffin and handed it to Eric. “Call.”
Chapter 11
Sugar watched them carry him away in his coffin.
Eric had called Daedalus’s office, informing them of the attack and of his injuries. They sent their local men. The same ones, according to Robert, who had caught them stealing their television and hogtied them. Even though they looked human, she knew they couldn’t be.
They reverently angled the coffin over the stair rails. Who was Daedalus Pal Robi? Someone who traveled with security yet housed them somewhere else. Someone who’s company removed seven dead werewolves without question and told them not to worry about it. Someone who taught underdogs to stand up for themselves and stole her heart.
She stared at nothing now, they were gone with him.
She felt empty inside, wrung out, and nauseous.
Katrina moaned behind her, and Sugar returned to the others.
The last of Daedalus’s men removed a blood pressure cuff from Katrina’s arm. She rested on a couch the boys had righted back up, an ice pack over her right eye. “She probably has a concussion, nothing her immunity can’t handle. She’ll be healed up by tomorrow. Tylenol for the headache, no anti-inflammatories.”
Sugar stood by the security guy, he glanced her way, and his eyes scanned her face.
“Daedalus has survived worse.” He handed her a business card and closed the apartment door as he left.
The card showed a toll-free number with the Pal Robi logo. She snorted. Un-freakingbelievable, her life belonged on Tales from the Crypt. Next thing she’d know, one of the merpeople would swim out of her toilet. Did she want this kind of life?
Most women her age had found a stable, charming husband, bought a house with a picket fence, and started having their 2.5 children. She’d dreamed that dream once but placed it on hold to help Eric out.
He’d found his place and didn’t need her anymore. The Omegas would be his life, he would make a great Alpha. Maybe he’d settle down with a mate, then they could have puppies. A giggle escaped her, and it held an edge of hysteria.
The subject of her amusement stared at her. “Are you okay?” The frown and hard glint in Eric’s eyes told Sugar there would be hell to pay among the disgruntled Ayumu turned Omega.
Life would be difficult until they accepted him, which meant more fighting.
She lied and nodded. Thanks to Sam, the Ayumu thought her to be Eric’s mate, and it painted a bull’s eye on her back. More violence. She’d need to hire Daedalus for combat training to survive being their neighbor. Daedalus. Her thoughts circled back to him.
The situation could be turned into an opportunity to begin fresh, a clean break from the paranormal and its kind, a chance to explore her own future. Maybe find her American dream.
“I’m going home.” She planted a gentle kiss on Katrina’s forehead. “Take care.”
Eric followed her out of his apartment. “I’ll stay with you.”
She shook her head. “I need to be alone. Just give me some time to absorb what happened.”
She glanced at her feet, unable to meet his piercing gaze.
“You heard the guy. Daedalus will pull through.”
She sighed. “I know. I don’t doubt it, not after watching him fight in daylight with a stake in his heart.” He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, except actually being a man. “I don’t know if I’ll pull through.” A sob applied pressure to her chest but she held it. “You need to give me space. Everyone. For a little while.”
“Sugar,” he whispered. “Please don’t shut me out of your life. You’re my best friend.”
She walked down the hall with him and entered her apartment. “Give me time.” Then she closed the door. The bolt stuck as she struggled to twist the knob, but it finally locked. This was the first time since the Omegas moved in next door she’d needed it.
Chapter 12
Daedalus sat in his study and contemplated the roaring fire in the hearth. No matter how much he fueled the flames, his heart remained cold. Centuries old but still stupid enough to fall for a pretty girl. He held the poem he’d written to her and threw it in the fire. She’d returned the others unopened as well.
He needed to reminisce on happier times, it sometimes eased the loneliness. His thoughts always betrayed him, eventually leading to her. The only good times he wished to remember involved Sugar, and they were a painful reminder she wanted nothing to do with him.
It drove him mad. He knew she cared. He saw her tears when they tried to stake him. Yet, she refused his calls and his letters. She refused him.
How many times over the last two months had he caught himself making plans to steal her away from her new home? He shook his head and rested it on the back of his favorite worn leather chair. Too many. It would be a mistake. Holding her prisoner would make her hate him more, not to mention kidnapping was illegal.
His chest ached, but not from the wound.
The CB mike on his cellphone beeped. He glanced down at it, annoyed. He’d told them not to disturb him. It beeped again. He sighed and unattached it. “What?”
“Did you order a pretty blonde for dinner, sir?”
What? He unfolded himself from the chair and went to the computer to access the camera outputs. A woman with blond curls got out of a cab, then came to stand by the guardhouse at the gate. His heart beat. One sharp, painful squeeze.
It was her.
“Bring her to my study.” Now she accepts his invitation? Two months later?
He tried to hook the phone back to his belt but missed, and it clattered to the floor. “Fuck.”
It skittered under the desk as he tried to grab it. He straightened and brushed any wrinkles in his pants. Get it together, man. Whether she stayed or went, at least it would be resolved.
He strolled to the mantle where he would greet her. The dark granite under his hands offered a sense of solidness, a reflection of what he’d like to appear when she walked in, cool and strong.
An ember popped to land on his shoe. He scuffed it out and leaned against the stone, his eyes focused on the door. A faint mumble of greetings floated from the foyer.
This was nonsense.
He strode to the study’s exit so he could greet her in the foyer, then stopped. That would seem too eager.
He paced the room, running his hand over his smooth head, and wondered how to receive her. It would land him in jail or worse if he did what he wanted to do—tear her clothes off, confine her to his bedroom, and never let her go.
When had he become so insecure? Not even a minute in his home and she reduced him, Daedalus Pal Robi, a prime of the Nosferatu clan, to a teenager. A small growl rumbled deep inside a well of frustration that had gathered over the last weeks.
The knob turned.
He faced the door and crossed his arms over his chest. She needed to accept him for what he was, no compromises, no apologies.
The door opened, and the sight of the breath-taking enigma gliding into the study nailed his feet to the floor.
Their relationship started in an unconventional way. They didn’t have a chance to go out on dates or mingle socially. It remained confined to wonderful moments at her apartment, in between their busy schedules. Never an occasion to dress up.
She cleaned up nice. He’d always thought her
beautiful, now she made him take the saying “eye-candy” literally. The black, knee length, spaghetti strapped dress flowed along her lush curves.
It contrasted with her milky white skin and enhanced its smooth softness. Her pale blond hair fell in big, bouncy curls around her face like silken threads.
“Sugar,” he breathed.
Her stilettos clicked on the hardwood floor.
The gloss of her dark red lipstick drew his attention with visions of them wrapped around his cock. He mentally slapped himself. Think with the big bald head, not the little one.
Smiling, she approached him. “I’m happy to see you’ve recovered.”
He touched his chest where the stake had penetrated him. “It didn’t go all the way through. If I’d been a younger vampire, it would have been the end of me.” He resisted the urge to twirl the wayward curl on her cheek.
She tilted her face up to him. “We never talked after the attack.” The tips of her fingers brushed his shirt over his wound, and it softened his resolve to be stoic. “It surprised me you could wake in the day, let alone fight and save me.”
Those crystal green eyes weakened his knees. They were the most honest eyes he’d ever seen, nothing hid in them. “Most can’t.”
She stepped closer, her intense stare making him nervous. “Only the oldest of your kind have those abilities.”
He swallowed, she knew. “Where are my manners?” He gestured to the chairs. “Please, sit with me.”
With a hand on his chest she stopped him as he began to move toward them. “How old are you?”
“You came across the country to ask me that?”
She gnawed at her lower lip. “No. It’s just...” She sighed and let her hand fall, then made her way to the chairs.
He pulled his in front of hers so their knees almost touched. Leaning forward, he answered the question he always hated. “I lost count after eleven hundred years.”
She sat up straighter. “Wow.”
He caressed her knee. “Does it matter, Sugar?” He couldn’t resist slipping his hand under the hem of her dress to touch her skin. “I-I’d do anyth—”
She placed her fingertips to his lips to silence him. “I love you, Daedalus. That’s never been the issue.”
He sat back. His fingers still tingled from the touch of her skin. “I wondered. It’s nice to hear.” They were about to have the conversation he’d wanted since he healed enough to rise to consciousness. His courage dwindled for a moment, but why would she travel across the continent to blow him off?
Her grin faded. “I needed time to figure things out. Where did I want my life to head? If I stayed with you and the Omegas, life would be...”
“Difficult?”
“Out of the ordinary.”
He stared at her. “And your verdict?”
She stood, then sat on his lap. “I’m here.” Her hands ran over his scalp.
As her supple fingers caressed his head he closed his eyes, afraid she’d see the tears that threatened to spill. “I noticed.” The urge to ignite this spark she’d planted made him on edge. He didn’t want to initiate anything. She came to him.
“I moved,” she whispered in his ear.
He raised an eyebrow, and his mouth twisted in a smile. Like he didn’t already know this.
“Eric informed me.”
She stretched herself along him. “I spoke with him.”
“It’s about time. They’ve been concerned about you.” The warmth of her body seeped into his.
“He has control of the Ayumu now. I know he asked Robert and Sam to follow me. I told him to stop. He needs them more than I do.”
Daedalus told Eric to stop for the same reason. His security had protected Sugar since the day of the attack, keeping her safe from any other retaliation.
The overwhelming emotions which almost drowned him receded. He opened his eyes to a wonderful sight. Exposed generous, round breasts almost spilled out of Sugar’s dress as she stretched forward. “Officially, I’m still his advisor,” he stated. They were very close to falling out.
He couldn’t help but silently cheer them on.
She took a deep breath. “It must be hard to advise when you don’t even live close to Chicago.”
“Yeah.” Maybe if he pulled on the fabric.
She traced her fingers along her collarbone, then around her cleavage. “I bought a house.”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes followed the patterns she drew on herself. The Sahara settled in his mouth, and everything he thirsted for sat on his lap. He licked his lips. She had no idea how she affected him. The hunger she produced.
One of the dress straps slid off her shoulder and exposed more tender flesh. “The original Omegas are moving in while I’m here visiting.”
“Yeah?” She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“There’s room for one more.”
He tore his attention from her flesh and lifted his face to meet her eyes. “You want me to move in with you and live with the Omegas again?”
She nodded, eyes wide and earnest. “I’ve missed you. After the attack I was afraid. I didn’t know what to do, where I belonged, or how to stay safe.”
“So you left.” It came out harsher than he intended.
She straightened and pulled up the dress strap. If he could have taken those words back, he would have.
“Yes, I needed space.”
He chuckled at himself. The thought of living with the Omegas again caused him a little trepidation. It had gotten crowded in their slight apartment, yet he’d enjoyed their company and had some fun. Boundaries would have to be set. They wouldn’t be allowed to use his coffin as a coffee table again, and there would be a television. A big one. But he’d have his Sugar.
He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her to him. With a brush of his lips on hers all was forgiven. None of it mattered, adjustments could be made, his existence would continue on a happier path. He’d given much of his time to his people over the centuries, Sugar would be his reward.
She moaned after she retreated from his kiss. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
Bouncing on his lap, she hugged him and pressed against his hard-on. “I’m glad this hasn’t changed,” she whispered as she ground her ass on him. She glanced over her shoulder at the white fur rug spread in front of the hearth. “Nice rug. What kind of animal is it?”
“Polar bear.”
She glanced at him, eyebrows raised.
He shrugged. “I’m a natural predator and a competitive man.”
“A predator of predators?”
“Not so much anymore.” He couldn’t stop watching Sugar as she removed her shoes and ran her toes through the thick, pale fur of his rug.
“It’s soft.” She slid off his lap to walk to the middle of it. “I’ve missed you.” She reached back and unzipped her dress, baring her skin an inch at a time. “I want to show you how much.”
The heated gaze she offered him over her shoulder melted him to the chair. The dress pooled at her feet. Naked, she dropped to her knees and crawled across the fur.
The flames in the hearth created the only light in the room. It reflected off her smooth skin, highlighting every luscious curve. She stretched her abdomen along the fur. It barely brushed her taught stomach and ripe nipples.
The blood rushed from Daedalus’s head straight to his cock, turning his erection painful with need. He’d denied himself any kind of release since they’d last been together two months ago. It took every ounce of his will power to control the urge to bury himself to the balls in her. Instead, he undid enough buttons to be able to pull his shirt over his head, then struggled out of his pants.
When he approached to stand in front of her, she came to her knees to receive him, touching the length of his legs with her hands. The gentle contact of her kisses as they traveled up his thighs made him quiver in anticipation. She knew what he needed, what he wanted. She lapped at his balls with the tip of her tongue and ran her hands ov
er his hard ass. Torture seemed to be her game.
Wanting a better view, he pushed her sunlight spun hair from her face.
Boldly she ran her tongue up his cock, like a lollipop.
He gasped and threw his head back, catching himself when he stumbled since his knees turned to jell-o. The onslaught of pleasure almost caused him to lose control. Almost. He tangled his fingers in her hair.
She gazed up at him. Her breath came in heated puffs over his tip. The hunger in her eyes matched his.
“Sugar.” Her name came out as a groan from the pit of his stomach. She would grant his earlier wish.
Her sumptuous, glossy red lips covered him. She took her time to slide all the way to his base.
Dewy, moist, warm. She angled back so he could watch himself slip out while she pulled away.
A sound of ecstasy rolled off his lips before she started to suck him in and out. And in and out. An intense fast rhythm, taking him deeper and deeper with each stroke.
His breath grew ragged with the pace. He twined his fingers in her curls to thrust himself with her rhythm. Passion surged through his body, and the depth of it staggered him. Control slipping, he concentrated to slake off some of this intense desire.
It wasn’t working.
“Sugar... I can’t... Oh...yes...”
She slowed the rhythm and swallowed him deep, then sucked hard as she withdrew.
He breathed in short, sharp gasps as she repeated this over and over, drawing animalistic grunts and groans from him. Unable to hold back any longer, he slid himself down her eager throat to feel her swallow his seed.
Her hands slid around his ass, clasping him there until he was spent.
He slipped out of her mouth as he came down hard on his knees, then wrapped her in his arms tight. “Sweet, sweet, Sugar,” he whispered. Laying her onto the white fur, he looked over the body of the woman who’d haunted him. Round, voluptuous breasts with their pink, ripe nipples, smooth creamy skin, and pale yellow curls damp with her dew. So many choices he couldn’t decide where to start.
“Feed on me.”
“I plan to.” The decision made for him, he spread her legs.
The Omegas Page 7