by Erin Hayes
I would have raised my arms contentedly over my head except they seemed to be pinned to my sides. That was when I remembered the assault, and that was when I peeled my eyelids open to be sure it had all been a nightmare.
I should have been shocked, when I opened my eyes, at the rude confrontation of another gaze peering into mine, a bittersweet chocolate gaze with gold flecks that seemed to swim in the depths like my thoughts were already swimming.
"Mi amore," the owner of the gaze murmured.
My first rational thought at the sound of that voice should have been one of primal survival, but all my enthralled mind could manage was to process how gorgeous he was, now divested of the cheesy Dracula costume. His hair curled around his temples and fell just below his chin. He could have been chiseled from marble he was so perfectly Roman-looking.
I felt his weight next to me on the bed shift just slightly and only knew he was reaching for my arm when his finger touched the crook of my elbow. As if of its own volition, it lifted and he drew the length of my forearm with the tip of his finger. Watching it mesmerized, I marveled at how my arm followed his touch in midair, snaking along with a Salome-type grace. I knew I had to be dreaming when the trail of his finger on my skin made the veins within burn as though they were hot metal and his finger was a magnet pulling the arm in any direction he wanted.
"See how your blood sings to me," he whispered. "It's calling to the remnants of what I've already taken inside me."
As if my limb was no more than a trail of smoke in the air, he made it lift over my head with just the tip of his finger before his palm splayed across the underside of my forearm, slipping toward my triceps and closer to my armpit. His feathery touch stroked the tender parts of my arm, brushing into the fleshy bulge of my breast, whispering over my nipple. I couldn't remember being nude beneath the sheets, but somehow I was, and his touch made my skin flush in places that were already too hot.
"I'm starving for you, mi amore."
His gaze rested on my throat, and I knew my muscles had begun to strain toward him, offering myself. I couldn't take my eyes from his, even when he eased my arms back down and pressed his cheek into my wrist.
"One taste," he said. "Just one. I know you want it. I can feel the heat of desire through your skin."
"Yes," I said, the word coming out in a long trail that ended up being nothing more than a hiss. I did want it. Despite the recesses of my brain screaming at the front, my hips had decided they wanted nothing to do with fear. They wanted to feel part of him, writhing beneath him, pulling him deeper. My heart raced, frantic to course the blood through my veins, to plump them for ready access should he want to lay that mouth against them.
A languid smile slipped over the fullness of his lips. "You are wild for me, yes?"
I could only tremble with the answer. My veins ached against my skin. He took in the sight of them in the lamplight, purple now against my flesh, as though he wanted to devour me.
"Spread yourself for me," he commanded. "I would taste your pleasure."
Without hesitation, my legs crept apart beneath the sheets, and his hands left my arms to travel my thigh. A sudden gasp of pleasure burst from me as he plunged a finger deep inside my sex. The pad of it kneaded me from within, making my breath catch in my chest. I couldn't breathe, I'd never be able to breathe again if he didn't fill me.
He let go a growling moan. "So ready for me, mi amore. You make it impossible to wait."
He shifted lower, burying his face between my thighs. I felt the fleeting stutter of his tongue rasping my core, plunging inside to partner his finger. I found the strength to grip the sheets as my heart throbbed in my ears.
I was already rocketing skyward, my pleasure soaking the sheets when through the haze of climax I heard a gruff sound coming from somewhere to my left.
"Gio," that drawling voice said. "I hadn't expected you so soon."
My Viking benefactor. The tone of his voice so flat and deadpan that I immediately attempted to clench my legs closed. Gio's hand patted my thigh as though to tell me I shouldn't feel any shame. With the utmost care, he shifted away from me, letting the sheet drape across my hips and tucking it up beneath my chin chastely. I could barely tear my eyes from him.
"You kept her well for me," Gio said.
"I kept her well." The Viking strode closer, bristling with some emotion that made me try to retreat into the pillows. "It's too soon. You'll kill her."
"I wouldn't." Gio's gaze swung to mine as though he wanted affirmation. I could only gawk at him.
"She's too weak. You know this."
Gio's patience snapped. His response came back with a commanding tone that belied his concern that he might have harmed me. "How do I know this? It's been centuries since I let one live."
He unfolded himself from the bed and I saw how tall he was, how broad his shoulders. Even against the Viking, who himself was easily over six feet, this Gio looked monstrously tall.
The Viking didn't quail in the face of that glare. "Why did you?"
"Let her live? Look at her." Gio spread his palms toward me. His chocolate eyes took me in from hair to heel. "She's wild. Her blood is hot lava melting me from the inside."
"Ever the poet," the Viking said, unmoved. "Sweet words aside, you need to leave her. Let her heal."
"I paid my price. She's mine. You see how she responds to me."
I was about to interject that no one owned me, let alone some misogynistic neophyte of the bondage world when Gio gripped my shin so painfully that I could let out nothing more than a squeal. That cleared my addled head for me, finally. I started to realize that I was lying here naked in front of two strangers. I started to realize that I just let one of them...
Oh, God, I'd let one of them assault me, practically begged him for it. What had I become, some sort of masochistic S&M chick, salivating over the chance to be man-handled? That was absolutely, definitely not Jade Sanchez. Maybe she'd had a hard go these last four days, what with the fiancé dumping her and all, but surely her core personality was intact. I had a serious case of mistaken identity brought on by a bad breakup followed by a flaked-out assault, that was all.
So just who was this Jade chick lying here nude?
She was a chick suffering a nightmare, that's what. Had to be.
I bit my tongue to force myself awake and immediately let out a hoarse shriek of pain. The tongue. I'd forgotten how messed up it was. No dream, then. A nightmare, yes. A real live waking one.
The Viking from the party took two steps toward the bed; it was all he needed to find himself so close to my head that I was afraid to turn and look at him. I could feel myself sinking into the pillow as I tried to retreat, but when his battle-hardened fingers tangled in my hair and yanked my head from the mattress, I came up hissing in fury.
"Take your fucking hands off me," I shrieked. It didn't matter to me that the words didn't translate from my thickened and sore tongue into actual articulation. I'd had enough of this lying here letting strangers talk about me– in front of me –as though I didn't exist.
The Viking twisted me so that my chin lifted toward him. "You're enthralled, my little mambo. That's all." He let go my hair and stroked my cheek. I wanted to bite his fingers. I even aimed for them and clicked my teeth together. Take that you prick, I tried to say.
"See?" The Viking patted my cheek as though I'd proven his point like a good little girl and then crossed his arms over his chest impassively. "She isn't responding to you, Gio. You've simply enthralled her."
Gio had the grace to shrug. "What does this matter?"
The Viking looked at me again. "Did you come here to die?" he asked me.
Gio seemed to take offense at this question and tried to interrupt, but the Viking held his hand up, indicating that if he spoke, there would be consequences. Even I was afraid to answer.
"Did you come to die?" he demanded again.
I tried to swallow and had to fight against the thickness of my tongue to get the
water down. That question. I remembered it.
"I'm guessing you had no idea why you were brought here," he drawled. He tried to lay his palm on my hair, but I twisted away, furious at his touch. Strange. I hadn't been so angry last time he was with me. But then this Gio wasn't here, either. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off him. Catching his gaze, I felt my heart tremor in my chest.
Gio took a step toward me, but the Viking held him off. The room was electric with tension, and it raised the hair on my arms.
"She's mine," Gio protested. "You have no right to keep her from me, Magnus."
The Viking--Magnus if my addled brain was following things correctly-- held a hand over my chest, not touching me, but the pressure in the air between us was suffocating. I gasped to inhale.
"He will come for you again and again, Jade. We spoke of this. We can keep playing the game, letting him drain you over and over, healing you again and again, but eventually he will want the final swallow."
Had we spoke of that? Everything was a blur. I wasn't even sure anymore why I was lying here. Something about teeth and balconies and feeling weak. The confusion was much like a cacophony of light switches clicking on and off in my brain. I couldn't help stealing a glance at Gio; surely he could explain it all to me. A god like that must have all the answers.
"Stop looking at him, dammit." Magnus yanked the sheet up over my face. In the shadowed light of the room, it had the effect of putting me completely in the dark. I drew in a hot, constricted breath.
I could hear Gio chuckling. "You're just angry because you didn't taste her first."
"I'm angry because you had a recruiter lure someone you shouldn't have." Magnus's voice could have been barbed wire. It cut straight through the suffocating material.
I could hear the hesitation in Gio's voice when he spoke next. "What do you mean?"
"I mean she has connections. We can't risk her dying. There are far better uses for her."
I had connections? That was new. Far as I knew, the only connection I had was to an IV tube dripping quietly at my side. The image of it in my mind, the realization that I truly was here, tied to an IV, forced comprehension in. The short amount of time under the sheets allowed my mind to de-fog. I was quite certain now I understood what was going on. As preposterous as it was, these men believed one of them was a vampire. These men were arguing over whether or not I should be his midnight snack.
I squirmed beneath the sheets.
These men had no idea I was about to make a very indigestible meal.
I struggled to pull the sheet from my face; the tubes tangled in the material and I thought for a second that I would suffocate. Full-blown panic sent my entire body into a lurching sit. The sheets tumbled down around my waist as I stared at the men in front of me. I had every intention of telling them to go straight to hell, bare boobs lessening the effect or not.
Magnus moved in front of Gio almost subtly, shielding me, but it was a move not lost on the larger man. He laughed outright.
"Come to me, mi amore," he murmured from behind the Viking and damn it all if I found my legs working to free themselves of the sheets.
Chapter Five
SHE'S VERY BAD
I'd have found the floor with my toes if Magnus hadn't physically restrained me. He pulled the IV free and scooped me into his arms. Even in the darkness, I could see the light of his eyes as they regarded me. Preternatural beams that seemed lit from within. For an instant, I considered the thought that I'd claimed the wrong man as the vampire. He cupped my face, pressing it toward his chest. He smelled of sweet earth and even the smoke of a hearth fire. I clutched at Magnus's shirt as I heard Gio's voice again and realized I had to struggle against the desire to reach for him, fight against the desire to free myself from Magnus's arms.
Magnus pulled me closer as I fought for freedom. He wasn't gentle about the sharp way he squeezed my limbs. My body met his with such force, it pushed all the air from my lungs.
"He was your recruiter, need I remind you." Gio stated.
"A fact I will soon remedy," he said over my head. "Now leave, Gio."
I was on the move now, jostling in Magnus's arms. I could have been flying, we were moving so fast. Everything around me blurred until I realized we were on the balcony again. The fresh air wafting over me, making my nipples erect. I'd forgotten for an instant that I was nude. Even in the cool air, I could feel my skin flush with embarrassment.
"He's gone," he murmured, easing me to the deck. "That should cool your blood." The way he said it made me feel like a foolish teenager screaming over some rock star.
I crossed one arm over my chest, the other one doing what it could to cover the neat triangle of hair between my legs. All I could think of in the clearing of confusion was how lucky I was to have thought to wax before my date. How mortifying would it be to add a thick black jungle to the already muddy situation. I laughed like an idiot at that, the gurgles of mania making my throat hurt. Shock. It does very strange things to people. Even stranger things to people who are smack dab in the middle of a strange situation. Stranger things still to people in a strange situation, worried about their very lives.
My knees were as useful to me as water; I stumbled and had to lean against the banister. Noticing it, Magnus sighed with irritation and peeled his shirt from his torso. Without it, he smelled even stronger of smoke and musk. I let him wrap the shirt around me. He stepped back and gave me a cursory inspection, grunting when his eye met the place where a shirt touched my mid-thigh. Nicely covered, then.
Without his arm supporting me, I staggered. My hands flew out, trying to find something to grab for. I ended up with one hand smack dab on his bare chest. The touch sent another shock through me, this time taking the steel out of my spine. I was already yanking my hand back in confusion, seeking another safer place to put it, when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to a steadier stand. With one hand around my wrist, and the other arm around my waist, he peered down at me. I did my best to meet that dawn sky gaze and failed miserably.
I tried to thank him, thinking the best thing to do was to stumble into the silence with awkward excuses; of course, because my tongue seemed to be a massive swollen tissue, I couldn't get anything out that made sense.
"No need to thank me," he said, his gaze traveling from my bare legs to my face. "He was right. You do have a wildness about you."
Damn straight, I wanted to say, but it's difficult to look tough when the only way you can stand is with a steady arm around your waist, holding you up.
His palm left my back, carefully releasing me.
"You know what we are?"
I nodded. I knew what they thought they were. Past that, I just needed to find enough strength to get the hell out of this place. So if nodding and agreeing and pretending that what they were pretending was perfectly normal, then hell, I'd say it was normal until flying monkeys sailed over my head.
"You're his for now," he said. "But I've concocted a lie that might get him to relinquish you."
I sank to the deck, my knees up against my chest, my arms wrapped about them to try and hug them closer. The bracelet of bones that the rental clerk had slipped onto my wrist dug against the front of my knee. Seriously. What kind of foolishness had I got myself into? It was the damn bracelet's fault. I should never have taken the risk. That rental clerk had said the name Bacalou as though it was a curse. Had I not been so hot for Sam's form, I might have heard it and saved myself this horrific situation.
"We don't usually let humans live," he explained. "It wasn't an accident that he did. I told you he likes you. He wants you."
The harshness in his voice was echoed in the way he clenched his fists against his legs. "And because he nearly drained you, I have no rights, no real power over you. All I can do is find a way to make you useful enough that he resists coming to you."
His next declaration after a long silence was just a shocking as the state I found myself in.
"You're going to have to fi
nd work in the governor's office."
He turned away from me as though he were conducting a meeting and I would be able to manage such a thing as easily as I would turn on a computer. I gurgled out a protest that if I could speak, would have sounded something like: fuck you. I was a vet's receptionist who had a hard time showing up every day. Correct that: I was an ex-vet's receptionist. By now, I was quite certain my boss had mailed my pink slip. Imagine that. Being fired and never getting to feel the outrage at opening the envelope. I gurgled out another stutter of laughter.
He ignored my response and took to pacing. The muscles in his chest quivered with tension, and if I didn't know the man was absolutely bat shit crazy, I might have admired his form, even stored it so I could envision it again later in the confines of a private room. As it was, I was too sore everywhere to even think about pleasuring myself, too worried about getting out of this predicament to admit how over-the-top hot he was. Thinking like that was what got me in this mess in the first place.
"You're going to have to work for me, too, of course. Become a recruiter as well." He spun to face me. "A recruiter in the governor's office will be far too tempting for Gio to ignore. He'll still want you, of course. But he'll have to curb his enthusiasm." His flash of grin was so feral it almost made me think he had pointed incisors behind those full lips of his. Obviously, I hadn't quite recovered my faculties as much as I would have liked. That was going to make escape difficult.
He pulled something from his jeans pocket and tossed it at me. It landed square on the top of my knee, looping down my thigh. I thought I smelled burning flesh.
"A silver chain," he said. "Hold onto it. If he comes back tonight, do your best to touch his bare skin with it."
Do my best. So far my best hadn't proven to be very good where Gio was concerned. I reached for the chain and closed my fingers around the links. I rested my head against the banisters and eased my eyes closed. This guy obviously believed I could protect myself from a monster with a small necklace. Great.