by Larissa Ione
Riker had attacked and drained several humans. One of the warriors, Myne, had noticed the change in Riker after he’d killed an “overweight bald man who reeked of rot.”
Uncle Paul. Nicole had, on occasion, heard the household vampires say that her uncle smelled of decaying flesh or ripe garbage. Nicole had never smelled anything, and to her knowledge, no human had. Only later, as an adult going through her family medical history, had she learned that Uncle Paul had suffered from lung cancer. He’d have died within a couple of months if he hadn’t been drained to death the day Terese died.
She inhaled sharply. Cancer.
In the lab, she and Grant had injected a human protein associated with cancer development into normal vampire cells, and then they’d introduced the VR-2 enzyme, resulting in massive, almost instant growth. They’d theorized that the growth inhibited a vampire’s ability to process the enzyme, causing madness and bloodlust.
What if the common denominator was cancer in the humans vampires fed on? And if that was the case, she could develop a serum to counter the protein and force the cells to shrink.
So excited about the possibilities that she was practically hyperventilating, she leaped from the couch. She had to tell Grant. No, he was busy. Riker! He’d want to know, especially since he’d almost died of bloodlust.
Without thinking, she darted out of the room and was instantly flanked by the two female security goons.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Katina called out.
“I have to see Riker.”
The two females didn’t say anything, merely let Nicole jog down the hall to Riker’s quarters. She tapped on the door. A sharp, high-pitched bark came from inside. “Come in.”
She pushed open the door. And came to a shocked halt.
Riker had a sleek, fiery-haired female pinned to the wall, his teeth buried in her throat. Both were fully clothed, but the female was riding him as if she were naked, panting, whimpering in ecstasy. And that was when Nicole realized that the female had been the one Nicole heard tell her to “Come in.” Except that hadn’t been what she said.
I’m coming.
Inexplicable hurt and anger pierced Nicole in the heart, as sharp as one of Riker’s cruel-edged blades. A choked squeak escaped her, and Riker’s head whipped around. His eyes glowed an intense, bright blue, and his fangs, twice their normal size, dripped with blood. A low, pumping growl bubbled up from deep in his chest as he held her, utterly frozen, with his gaze.
The room shrank. Closed in on her the way the prey room had.
She had to get out of here. Mind overloaded with erotic images of Riker with the sultry female, Nicole stumbled backward through the doorway.
Then she ran like hell to her room.
THE PREY WAS on the run.
His heart pounding like he’d been giving chase for hours, Riker tore himself away from Benet and started for the door.
“Wait.” Benet’s breathy command stopped him, but he didn’t turn around. “I’m here. I’m willing. I’ve been willing for years. But you want the human?”
Riker clenched his teeth as he tried to force out a lie, but the no wouldn’t come. The soft tap of Benet’s feet drew close, and then her satin lips were on his ear.
“This is the first time since Terese’s death that you’ve shown interest in a female.” She dragged her mouth to his throat, to the spot she always fed from. “Go,” she whispered. “Get her.”
She didn’t have to say it twice. In the back of his mind, he made a note to thank her, but the rest of his brain was swamped with a need he couldn’t control, and he shot out of his quarters with the single-minded purpose of a wolf tracking a female in heat.
So he really wasn’t happy to see his buddy in the hall, blocking his path. Riker slammed into Myne, knocking him out of the way.
“Dude.” Myne caught Riker’s shoulder and swung him around. “What the fuck?”
Riker let out a furious snarl and introduced his friend’s spine to the wall. “Don’t. Just. Don’t.”
Myne’s smoky eyes flashed. “You need to feed, man. You’re jacked.”
“I already fed,” Riker ground out.
Myne raked his gaze over Riker, nostrils flaring as he took in Riker’s scent. “Ah, shit.” Myne’s voice went low. “Come on, buddy. Let’s grab a bottle of rum and hit the game room.”
Rum and the game room? On any other night, Riker would have taken Myne up on shots and some poker or pool but not now. Not while he was high on blood and riding the moon fever like it was his personal bitch. There was a dark, barely restrained lust lurking just below the surface of his civility, a living thing that had been clawing at him for years, waiting to get out.
Nicole had unlatched its cage, and it wanted to thank her.
“No.” Riker shoved away from Myne.
“Dammit,” Myne snapped, and this time when he tried to stop Riker, his face got intimate with Riker’s fist. The crack echoed through the halls, followed by Myne’s growl. “You stupid fuck. No good can come of you screwing the human.” Myne put the back of his hand to his mouth and came away with blood. “You’ve been moping about Terese’s death for twenty years, and it’s a human who drags you out of it?”
“Shut up.”
Never one to follow orders, Myne pressed on. “She’s not just a human, you dipshit. She’s a human who owned Terese. You’re really going to stick your dick in that?”
Riker hissed. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” His voice throbbed with anger. “Go find your pain-loving female, and give her a good dose of misery. Or is she with someone else this month?” Like Myne, Riker didn’t ease up now that he’d struck a sore spot. Why go for the pain when you could go for the kill? “What are you going to do when her father finds her a suitable male to mate with? What then? What female is going to be eager to take your particular brand of affection? No one here will have you.”
The brief flash of hurt and surprise in Myne’s eyes shamed Riker, but Myne recovered quickly, his expression hardening into stone. “Don’t come crying to me later when you’re ridden with guilt and regret.” Myne shoved past Riker and disappeared down the hall.
Dammit. Now lust and anger were ripping through his veins and spinning him off his axis. Only one thing would set him right again, and that soft, feminine thing was in a room down the hall.
He didn’t even remember getting there. When Katina moved to intercept, all it took was a scowl, and she moved aside.
He found Nicole in the bedroom.
She jumped off the bed, where she’d been sitting with a piece of paper, hands frantically folding out some sort of animal shape.
“Get out,” she rasped.
He prowled toward her. “After.”
“After what?” She swept up a glass of water off her nightstand and hurled it at his head. He stepped easily aside but didn’t avoid the water that splashed on his back when the glass shattered on the wall. “After you yell at me some more?”
“No,” he said darkly. “After we finish what we started.”
NICOLE’S HEART WAS pounding out of her chest. Riker stood there, his body radiating a combustible mixture of danger and lust, his fangs glistening behind parted lips.
Lips that had been on some skanky vampire’s throat while she arched against him, her legs locked around his waist.
Nicole had no right to be jealous. Hell, she didn’t even have a reason. They might have inexplicable physical chemistry, but there wasn’t anything emotional between them. Nothing. She didn’t even like Riker.
Liar.
“There’s nothing to finish.”
“Nothing to finish? You wondered why sex with a vampire was such a big deal. I’m going to show you.” He moved toward her, slowly, like a cat sneaking up on a bird. “Stamina.” He stepped closer. “Multiple orgasms.” Closer, and her mouth went dry. “Flexibility.” Closer. Her skin flushed hot. “Strength.” Closer. Her stomach did a flip-flop. “The ability to sense heat s
o we know what parts of the body are the most sensitive at the right time.” Closer. A throbbing ache started low in her pelvis. “The ability to hear the slightest change in the tempo of your pulse so we know exactly how every stroke, kiss, and lick affects you.”
Oh. Dear. Lord.
Wetness bloomed between her thighs, and then he was in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, his mouth on hers. A needy, masculine sound rattled inside his chest as he rolled his pelvis into her belly. The rigid length behind the fly of his jeans was a big clue to what he thought they needed to finish, and she had to swallow a groan.
“You shouldn’t have come back to my place,” he murmured against her lips.
No, she shouldn’t have. “Sorry. Did I ruin the mood for you and your girlfriend?”
He slipped one arm behind her waist to haul her even more firmly against him. “Not my girlfriend.”
“My apologies. She’s a casual screw, then.”
He took her bottom lip between his teeth, then soothed the spot with his tongue. “We’ve never had sex.”
Oh. Huh. As much as she liked that answer, she still had the image of them dry-humping in her head. “So I interrupted your first time.”
“I didn’t want her. I feed from her. That’s all.”
She shoved him away and stepped aside. “Really? Because you two were about thirty seconds from being a lot more than blood buddies.”
“I’ll be damned.” A blatantly triumphant male smile lit up his expression. “You’re jealous.”
“I am not.” Yes, she was. “I’m . . . confused. I’m so freaking . . . I don’t know!”
He regarded her the way someone might look at a rabid animal. “I don’t understand.”
She rounded on him. “You wouldn’t, you giant ass.” To be honest, she didn’t understand, either. But that didn’t stop her from putting several days’ worth of fear and stress on the table. “I’m scared, okay? I’m lost. I don’t know where I am, and everyone here looks at me like they want to eat me or torture me. Maybe both. I want to go home, but then I don’t want to go home because everything I thought I knew is one big lie. The people I trusted have turned against me, and even my own brother is afraid to help me.” She paused to take a breath, fresh fuel for her tirade. “I should hate you, but instead, I’m attracted to you, which is beyond twisted, especially since I know that after I get Neriya back, I’m probably going to die.” She dashed away tears with the back of her hand. “So forgive me if I’m a little emotionally unstable right now.” She sniffed. “Ass.”
“I’m not going to kill you, Nicole. I promise.”
“Maybe not you, but come on. I’m not stupid. Your clan can’t let me live. I know too much.”
“I won’t let that happen.” He framed her face in his hands and bored his gaze into hers. “Listen to me. You’re not going to die. Let’s get Neriya and go from there.”
She nodded, and very slowly, the atmosphere around them shifted from anger and confusion to an electric sensuality she couldn’t ignore. She licked her lips, and his gaze dropped to her mouth, focused on her tongue. In agonizingly slow motion, he lowered his head until there was only a hairsbreadth of space between them.
“I want you, Nicole.”
“Ten minutes ago, you were with another female,” she pointed out, hating that she sounded so petty and sullen.
“Because I had to be. But I didn’t want her. Not this way.”
“This way?”
One corner of his made-for-sin mouth tipped up as he brushed his lips across hers. “This way,” he whispered.
His lips were warm, the kiss lingering, until she went up on her toes to take more. As if that was the invitation he was waiting for, he swept her up, and with his vampire speed, he laid her on the bed.
Still kissing her, he stretched out alongside her and palmed her butt to bring her against him. This felt so strange but so good, and when he slid his hand up under her shirt, she arched to give him easier access. He dragged his mouth along her jaw, his warm breath caressing her skin.
With expert skill, he unhooked her bra and slid his hand around to cup her breast. Her breath came in a hot rush at his intimate touch, and then it didn’t come at all when he reared back to pull off her shirt and bra. His own shirt didn’t fare well, the sound of tearing threads filling the room as he ripped it off. He was magnificent in his urgency, the cords in his neck straining, the muscles in his arms flexing and rippling with power she’d witnessed several times now.
“I’m not going to ask if you’re ready for this.” His voice was rough, his movements rougher as he tugged off her jeans, leaving her in only the horrid granny panties. “I know you are. I can smell your desire.” His fingers delved between her legs to stroke the damp cotton, and they both groaned. “I can feel it.” He prowled up her body, his expression leaving no doubt about his intent. “But if you want to stop, tell me now.”
Stop? Was he crazy? In answer, she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, taking a kiss from him. He tasted like dark chocolate, with a metallic bite of—
He tasted like that skanky vampire he’d been sucking on.
Raw, scorching jealousy and possessiveness lashed at her. A few days ago, she’d have spent time analyzing the emotions, but she wasn’t that person anymore. She wasn’t in a safe, controlled environment. She was in the wilderness with people who embraced their instincts and remembered their primitive roots. The wildness had permeated her mind, body, and heart. For the first time, she was going to embrace her instincts, too.
She gripped him hard, digging her nails into his neck. Scoring him. Marking him.
He hissed and ground his erection into her hip. Oh, but that wasn’t good enough. While he thrust his tongue into her mouth, she wedged her hand between their bodies and yanked open his jeans. His hard length sprang free, and when she took it in her fist, the animal noise he made sent a shiver of dark anticipation through her.
He rose above her, his back arching as she stroked him. She was captivated by the fierce ecstasy in his expression, his slightly parted lips that glistened with her kiss and displayed a hint of ivory fang. When she’d started to think fangs were sexy, she had no idea, but she suddenly wanted them to glide over her body, delivering tiny pricks of pleasure as they went.
As if he’d read her mind, Riker fell forward and took her breast in his mouth. He bit her lightly, then laved the area with his tongue, circling her sensitive flesh and moving inward until he reached her nipple. The very tip of his tongue flicked back and forth, teasing her so deliciously. His palm drifted over her belly and slipped under her panties. She parted her thighs, eager for his touch.
He didn’t disappoint. His fingers delved between her folds, and she cried out at the tender brush of one fingertip over her clit.
“You’re so wet,” he said against her breast. “So silky.” He dipped one finger inside her, and she cried out again, already so close to orgasm that she wanted to weep. “I want to taste you.”
Good God, yes. Oral sex had never been her favorite thing in the world, and truth be told, she’d always shied away from it. Too intimate. Too embarrassing. But suddenly, she couldn’t deny Riker this; suddenly, she wanted it.
Riker moved down her body, kissing and licking, stoking the fire inside her into an inferno. When he settled himself between her legs, his massive shoulders spreading her thighs impossibly wide, she was sure he’d feel the heat blasting off her.
He didn’t remove her underwear. He closed his mouth over the fabric and licked. The feel of his firm tongue pushing the cotton against her was like nothing she’d experienced before, and she reveled in the almost-there tease, rocking her hips upward to meet his mouth.
“That’s it,” he growled. “Take what you want.”
“I want to come,” she growled back.
Tunneling his fingers under the elastic, he pulled the panties aside and licked her again, this time flesh on flesh. She jerked at the intensity of the contact, an
d when he dipped his tongue inside her, she nearly arched off the mattress.
He wasn’t gentle as he lapped at her, using his tongue as an erotic weapon that made her body writhe so violently that he had to hold her in place with a firm grip on her hips. Dizzying pleasure ricocheted through her, and when she heard the sound of tearing fabric, she knew he was as far gone as she was.
He lunged against her, thrusting his tongue deep. It swirled and stroked, taking her so high she thought she might pass out. She was at the very edge of orgasm, hovering on a blade’s edge, but he denied her, skillfully bringing her down for just a heartbeat before working her up again.
“Please,” she rasped. “I—”
She cut off at his sudden change of tactic. A quick lick up her center, and then she felt the most curious, smooth caress over her clit. His head moved from side to side as her pleasure climbed higher, and that’s when she realized he was using the length of one fang to stroke her. The knowledge sent her over the edge and right into the most intense, mind-blowing climax of her life. It hadn’t even ended when Riker covered her with his body and plunged inside her.
She came again, even though he wasn’t moving, was hovering over her, watching her with that menacing, predatory gaze.
“Multiple orgasms,” he said in a guttural whisper. “That’s what the fluid from our fangs does. Makes everything it touches extra . . . sensitive.” He drove his point home by slipping his hand between them and flicking the tip of his finger over her swollen knot of nerves. Yet another orgasm struck with the intensity of lightning, short-circuiting her entire nervous system with pleasure.
She clawed at his back, encouraging him to get on with it. She had to see him come. Had to see this hardened, battle-scarred vampire lose himself to the ultimate pleasure.
Pleasure she would give.
A low, rough sound burst from his chest, and then he was pumping wildly, slamming his hips into hers, and shoving her up the mattress with each powerful thrust. A fine sheen of sweat formed on his skin, making his ropy veins stand out starkly on top of quivering muscles. The sounds of sex filled the room, the slap of flesh, the panting breaths, the wet slide of his shaft in her core.