One thing left to do, and he hoped to God it worked. A door stood to his left. He kicked out, and it slammed inward. He grabbed her, pulling her with him inside the grimy space. She cried out in protest, fighting against him, but even with her otherworldly strength she couldn’t match his. He dug in his pocket for his wallet.
She took advantage of his distraction, pulled loose, and darted for the door. He caught her around the waist and yanked her close. Her ass pressed against his thighs, her lower back against his dick. “You started this, and there’s one way to finish it so we both get out alive.”
He shoved beneath her skirt, finding her panties. A quick jerk, and the flimsy material gave way. He plunged his fingers inside her sopping wet slit. The fire of change burned, while human lust surged to his cock.
She gasped, spreading her legs wider. He buried knuckle-deep into her tight canal. The perfume of her arousal left him dizzy as he finger-fucked her, her juices dripping down his hand. His childhood lessons on gentlemanly propriety needled him, but the urgency to quell his monster drove him on. He hoped she’d forgive him.
“Do you want me?” he asked against her ear.
“Yes.”
The husky plea was the consent he needed. He pulled away long enough to dig the condom out of his wallet. Who knew if his kind could get her kind pregnant, but it wasn’t worth the risk. He freed his cock and managed to sheath himself with the rubber, before grasping her hips. She slapped her palms against the wall and he drove into her slick cunt, balls deep. She screamed, the sound of pure female ecstasy, and the man battled the wolf within for supremacy.
The sweet, doting boyfriend fantasy had vanished, in its place a feral beast fucking like a man possessed. His balls slapped her clit, his grunts driving her faster to the brink of climax. She wanted to hang on, experience the intensity over and over. Instead, sensations overrode self-control and orgasm slammed into her. Her knees buckled.
He spun her around, lifted her against the wall, driving into her again. Despite the dark space, her heightened vision saw clearly. His eyes shone in the low lighting, his lips pulled back over sharp teeth. He pushed her toward another climax. She crested and his teeth found her neck, piercing the delicate skin. Used to this sort of play from vampires, from Jared it startled her. She winced from the painful bite. He threw his head back, his lips stained red with her blood, howling release. It grew louder, deeper, more animalistic. She slid from his embrace to the floor, using the wall for balance.
Fear lurched through her.
“No, no, no.” He backed away, holding his head between his hands. He buckled over. “Distraction should’ve worked. It always works. Get out.”
She rushed to him. “What’s the matter? Oh my God, what can I do?”
“Get out!”
He seemed to be changing into whatever a werewolf changed into. Morbid curiosity kept her planted to the spot. His skin bulged, bones and joints cracking.
“For Christ’s sake, Kat, leave.” His voice distorted and she barely made out the words.
Still unsure, she had taken two steps toward the door when a silhouette appeared in the doorway.
“Davis?”
The elder vampire walked in, staring between her and Jared. “You fucked him?”
The odor of sex hung too heavy to deny it. And she had no reason to do so. “What’s it to you?”
With preternatural speed, he moved in front of her. His fingers snapped closed around her jaw like a steel trap, lifting her from her feet. “Did he take your blood?”
She lashed out, a foot catching him in the shin. He dropped her.
“It’s obvious he did,” Davis spat. “Do you realize what you’ve done? I should leave you in here with it.”
Shadows milled outside the door, other vampires from the Orgy Room. Raspy breathing drew them around. A huge, impossible monster had taken the place of her sweet Jared. Long, straggly brown hair hung from its body. Cold eyes glared. Lips thinned over elongated, saber-like teeth. Davis backed off.
“What do we do now?” Morgan’s voice drifted to her.
“Kill it. What else is there to do?” Davis answered from the doorway.
“Jared?” Her voice seemed too small to face the huge monster she approached. “Please, I know it’s you.”
She reached a trembling hand out, palm up. A growl rolled from the monster’s lips, and he stalked toward her, the silver eyes she so adored swallowed by blackness. Survival instinct kicked in, and she bolted for the door. The Jared monster roared after her, its long nails scratching over the cement flooring of the building. She slammed the door when safely outside, hanging onto the knob, knowing it wouldn’t hold forever, and looked over her shoulder. Davis, Morgan, and several others clustered behind her.
“This is a werewolf?” she asked. Loud screeches sounded on the other side of the metal door, and she imagined gnarled nails raking down it.
Morgan flashed a smile. “Something much worse has been unleashed, pussycat. Thanks to you.”
“This is why Dirty Love is forbidden. The risk is too great.” Davis’s features had returned from hatred to their usual impassive state.
She shook her head. “Sex did this to him? That doesn’t make sense.”
The elder vampire shook his head. “Long ago I traveled north, met a beautiful woman, lost myself and my common sense to her. She was a werewolf and nine months later, she bore a son. If the offspring is viable and lives past its first birthday, it becomes a threat to us all. I warned her, begged her to end the pregnancy. I should’ve taken her life while I still had the chance, because I couldn’t get close to the child after birth. His family was too protective.”
The door rattled and she braced back with all her weight, hoping it’d keep closed. “Okay, you’re off subject, Davis. What does this have to do with Jared?”
“He’s my son. When he took your blood, it triggered a shift. He evolved into something much worse than a werewolf. He’s immune to their weaknesses, like silver, and ours, like our inability to remain in sunshine for more than an hour. He’s unstoppable. A freight train out of control. They thrive on destruction, kill and feed on everything in their path. I have to destroy it.” Davis nodded, and one of the mob put a cellphone to his ear. She heard the monster pacing inside the building.
“You can’t, Davis. It’s not right. Wait until morning. Don’t they go back to being human come daylight?” Kat asked.
“A normal werewolf will, but not this abomination.” A blur of movement appeared down the block, moments later a vampire stopped in front of them. He handed Davis a suitcase.
A horrible sinking feeling settled in her gut. “What’s that?”
“A bomb.”
He said it so matter of factly, she was sure she’d misheard. “A what?”
“A bomb.”
She struggled for reply. “What the hell, you keep bombs lying around?”
Morgan laughed. “You never know when one might come in handy.”
“In case of any incidents with a vampire who loses control, we can blow up the evidence. Go big or go home.” Davis fiddled with the suitcase.
“No, you can’t blow him up. You said he’s your son.” It seemed implausible Jared and Davis could be related. Too much of a coincidence she’d stumbled upon the one man in a city of millions she absolutely, positively shouldn’t have. Too incomprehensible that her desire to royally piss Davis off had been granted on such a monumental scale.
She really, really needed to play the lottery.
And send 1Night Stand owner, Madame Evangeline, a pretty nasty email.
Davis leveled his gaze on her, his gray eyes much the same as her new lover’s, pre-monstrosity. But Davis’s were cold hard steel, Jared’s warm like moonlight on a summer’s night. And other, equally appalling metaphors she didn’t need to be romanticizing at the moment.
Davis opened the suitcase and removed a nondescript metal thing.
“It’s a pipe bomb,” Morgan offered. “Something
any geek with a computer could throw together. But this one packs a more powerful punch.” Delight flashed in her eyes. Kat made a mental note to claw them out later.
She’d dragged her poor date to his doom. Hell, he’d probably have taken her to some posh hotel. Sprinkled rose petals over the bed, offered her champagne and strawberries, and made other romantic gestures she’d seen in the movies. He wouldn’t have dragged her back to his family and offered her up to a good bombing.
She said a silent prayer to whoever listened above. No way she’d be able to wrestle the explosive away from five determined vampires. The dilemma bounced around her brain. She’d never been good with solutions. She dodged problems. That was her thing, and she could’ve made a kick ass living at it, if it’d been a career option. But she wouldn’t let him die. She felt responsible and…bonded to him.
“I bet Madam Eve didn’t plan for this,” she mumbled. Stall for time. Get your brain working. “How the hell did you recognize him after all these years, Davis?”
“I hired a private investigator and got a photo of him as a teen. At the time, he lived in Canada. I assumed he would be out of my hair for good. Not anticipating a self-indulgent vampire would drag him back to the mob and cause so much trouble.”
She hurled the dirtiest look she had in her repertoire his way. If not for her death grip on keeping the door shut, she’d have given him one hell of a kick in the balls.
There had to be a different entrance to the building opposite them. And once she got Jared out, then what?
I’ll worry about it later. She barged through the door, not allowing herself time to reconsider. The rank odor of the werewolf thing struck her, but beneath it a unique and wonderful aroma, all her sweet Jared’s. She rushed past the werewolf. It snarled, nails scrambling for purchase, taking pursuit. Shouts from the mob followed as she dodged rusty packing equipment. No doubt they’d try to blow the place before she and Jared escaped.
A wall of windows appeared, marking the front of the building. She charged forward, sucked in a gulp of air, and crashed through the filthy glass. Shards stabbed into her arms and legs. She stumbled then regained her footing, wishing she’d chosen more sensible footwear for the out of control date. Ferocious growls echoed behind her. She didn’t need to double check to know the monster followed.
The explosion threw her into the air. She screamed, tumbling end over end across a vacant parking lot.
Chapter Five
Pain. White hot, intense. The beast panted. Kat repeated in its mind.
“Aaa.” Its lips couldn’t form the word.
The woman sprawled within striking range. Smoke scorched its nostrils, and it tried to drag farther from the flames. Kat Kat Kat Kat. It reached for the woman, grasping her, pulling her along. Kat Kat Kat. A part of it recognized the word, a lifeline to something it needed. Ringing roared in its ears, but the pain subsided. Strengthened from rapid healing, it got to its feet and collected the woman, not clear what to do with her.
Hide. It slunk toward the shadows, while sirens wailed closer. After crawling beneath a pile of lumber and tin, it cradled the woman, watching the fire lick higher. Anger simmered, images of the mob flashing through its mind. Tear their throats out. Yes, take them out, one by one. But the frail creature kept it still. Her shallow breathing sounded unhealthy. And gashes marred her pale skin, glass protruding from her body. Long claws made it impossible to grasp the shards, so it pulled them with its teeth, stroking the wounds with its tongue. The bleeding stopped, and the slashes closed.
The salty taste of her blood teased. It wanted to sink teeth to the bone but held back, instead focusing on the chaos around the fire. The pungent stench of burning wood and chemicals filled the air. The woman moaned, coming back to life.
Kat. Pleasure fluttered, and it nuzzled her cheek. Her eyes popped open and their gazes locked in the shimmering light and shadows of the inferno beyond.
She let out a piercing scream. It jumped back, scattering tin and lumber, exposing them to the hot night air. She scrambled away. It turned to bolt.
“Jared!”
Recognition flickered and it turned back. “Aaaaa.”
The woman crouched and reached out a shaky hand. “It’s okay, sugar. It’s me, Kat.”
Men shouted on the other side of the fire. Instinct warned it to find a dark hiding place, but the woman drew the beast closer.
“We’ll work this out. I’m sure you can’t stay a werewolf thing forever, right?” She bared her teeth, but not in a threatening way. More flowing pleasure, and it pulled its lips back mimicking her expression. She gasped, and it clamped its lips closed.
“We’ve got to get out of here, okay? Can you understand me?”
Its brain mulled over the words. She spun a slow circle, planting her fists on her hips. “This area of the city is crack town, I’m sure there are plenty of drug holes to hide in until we get things under control.” She took off, her long strides carrying her away, and the beast lowered to four legs and trotted behind, dodging pools of light, hugging outside walls of buildings until they found another empty place. Human waste tainted the air.
She frowned. “Hopefully it’s not so bad.”
Inside, she knelt and picked up a shiny object. “Looks like a spoon they use for heroine.”
She pitched it aside and the spoon clinked on the tiled floor. Tile. Yes, black and yellowed white decorated the floor. The beast searched for more things. Tables, broken chairs. One by one, it named the few items filling the space. A couple of old blankets piled in a corner. Spray-painted designs covered the walls. Gang graffiti.
“Are you okay, sugar? You’re, uh, shrinking, I think.”
Adrenaline leached from his muscles, leaving them quivering, the familiar feeling of shift bringing him back to man form. He fell to his knees in a pool of ugly shed hair. Arms wrapped around him, and the sweet, comforting aroma of cinnamon filled his head.
“Oh my god, sugar, it’s so good to see you.” Kat rained kisses over the stubble remaining on his cheeks, before settling on his lips. They tasted salty, and she swiped away the blasted tears pouring down her face. Jared seemed weakened, but he wasn’t a smelly monster anymore.
“What happened?” His hoarse voice echoed in the room.
“Oh, we got blown up. You know, typical stuff for a vampire and werewolf engaged in Dirty Love.”
His gaze shot to hers, his pupils still too large, swallowing the silver. “What?”
She giggled—a nervous sound to her own ears. “Long story. We’ve got to find you some clothing. Not that I don’t love this naked body of yours, but the police might view things differently if we’re spotted.”
“Wait.” He grabbed her arm. “Are you okay?”
His words were so full of concern, fresh tears blurred her vision. She propped him against a wall, stroking his face, memorizing his features. Feelings bubbled up within her. Incredible, liberating, unrecognizable feelings. Completely, utterly absurd feelings which had her jogging outside and down the street in search of a clothing shop she could break into. She caught her reflection in the window of a retail store several blocks away, and the smile on her face, the sparkle in her eyes, made her childlike. Mascara smeared her cheeks, her lipstick long ago worn away, and she viewed a person she hadn’t seen since her youthful days prior to her parents’ awful divorce. A beautiful image—not in the proportions of her face, but in the beaming life she saw there.
Jared had created the woman gazing back, and the instant of realization marred the sweet beauty. She stepped back then kicked out, shattering the glass pane and her image, doing irreparable damage to the expensive leather boots she wore. The shrill alarm hurt her ears as she dashed inside for a mad minute shopping spree. Shoes, jeans, T-shirt, a couple of candy bars, and a packet of beef jerky for Jared. She made it across the street and out of sight before a police cruiser flew by the alley she’d darted down. She hoped she’d guessed right about his sizes; going back wouldn’t be an option.
She ignored cat calls from junkies she passed, grateful when she found Jared safe and sound where she’d left him. And sound asleep. A few hours would be good for him. She’d keep an eye out, and when he recovered, they’d make their way somewhere. Maybe a bus station to buy a ticket to God knew where.
Chapter Six
“We’re not leaving the state, Kat. Everyone I know is here.”
She crossed her arms, determined to get her point across. “I didn’t say state, I said country. Canada. It’s bloody cold up there. Vamps hate cold, it’s too…crypt like. We’d be safe from Davis and his mob.”
Jared blew out a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. The clothing she’d stolen didn’t look too bad, but the jeans hit him well above the ankle. They’d walked to the beach, hanging out beneath a pier. Dawn teased the eastern sky. A saltwater breeze wove around them. She stayed away from the ocean, considering sand a nuisance, and she couldn’t swim.
At least Davis had been wrong about the creature Jared had morphed into. Terrifying, yes, but not deadly as he’d insisted he’d be. Or he had incredible control.
“Give me time to work it over.” Jared paced. “Maybe the vampires will lose interest in us.”
She snorted. “You don’t know Davis. Once he has his teeth in something, he’s a dog with a bone. No offense.”
For the first time since last night, he smiled, and she almost swooned. No one man should be so devastating.
“None taken. I can’t understand why they’re so obsessed with ridding the world of us. We broke some antiquated law about sex between vamps and werewolves, I get that. But they’ve taken a lot of risks, blowing up an entire building.”
Dirty Love Page 3